Jobless rate dips across northwest Ohio

10/23/2012

Jobless rates dipped slightly last month in metro Toledo and across much of northwest Ohio as the last local-level unemployment report was released today prior to the Nov. 6 election.

The unemployment rate in Toledo dropped to 8.2 percent in September, down from 8.3 percent the month before and 10.1 percent a year earlier. For Lucas County, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, the rate slipped to 7.5 percent, from 7.6 percent the month before and 9.3 percent a year earlier.

For the three other metro Toledo counties, the rate dipped in each: in Wood County, to 6.3 percent in September from 6.6 percent in August and 7.9 percent a year ago; in Fulton County, to 6.5 percent last month from 6.7 percent the month before and 7.7 percent a year earlier; and in Ottawa County, to 6.6 percent from 7.1 percent the month before and 8.1 percent a year earlier.

The state report shows an estimated 22,600 people without jobs in the four-county metro Toledo area.

The jobless level was down or the same last month as the month before in every northwest Ohio county except one -- Erie County, where it rose to 5.7 percent, from 5.5 percent in August but still down from 8.1 percent from a year earlier.

The statewide rate, released last week, fell to 7 percent, down from 7.2 percent in August and from 8.6 percent a year earlier. The national rate, released two weeks ago, was 7.8 percent in September, down from 8.1 percent in August and 9 percent a year earlier.